Framing device



March 12, 1940. H A, as vRY vRe. 21,388

FRAMING n'EvIcnFofi MOTION PICTURE- PROJEGTORS Original File d March 12, 1934 4 Sheets-Sheet 1 [nverir fferman CZ .DCWJ/ March 12, 1940. H. A. DE VRY Fmme nnvrcs FOR mono momma raoqmcwons .orizinal Filed March 12, 19:54 4 Sheets-Sheet '2 [Rue/2527* I H rrn'an (2. .De Jy' March 12, 1940. H A DE VRY FRAMING DEVICE FOR MOTION PIGTURE PROJECT OR S Original Filed March 12. .1934

March 12 1940, H. A. DE" vi v mums DEVICE FOR MOTION rxcwnarnomcwons Original Filed llargh 12, 1934 4 Sheets-Sheet 4 Reiuued Mar. 12, 1940 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE PROJECTOBS FRAMING DEVICE FOR MOTION Herman A. de Vry, Chicago, Ill.

15 Claims.

My invention relates to framing devices for motion picture projectors.

In projectors, the matter of properly framing the picture on thescreen has always been a source of considerable difiiculty, and many diflerent types of mechanism have been employed for this purpose. Some of these mechanisms move the light aperture with respect to the film; while others move the film sprocket with respect to a stationary aperture. In any event the problem of how to avoid getting the shutter out of synchronism with the film sprocket has made it necessary to employe various more or less complicated and expensive mechanisms to get a satisl0 factory result.

It is the purpose of this invention to provide a simple and efiective means for framing the picture which has no influence upon the shutter operating mechanism tending to move it out of 20 synchronism with the intermittent film moving mechanism.

It is also a purpose of this invention to provide in a motion picture machine a flexible chain drive for the film moving mechanisms in which 28 the chain is also acted upon to register the picture at the aperture.

It is also a purpose of this invention to provide a mechanism or this character which makes it unnecessary to provide additional gears and con- 80 nections to compensate for the shirt 0! the intermittent drive mechanism necessary for tram- It is a further purpose of this invention to provide a framing device which utilizes the existas ing drive mechanism for the film in such a fashion as to permit the placing of the intermittent drive sprocket relatively close to the aperture through 00 mechanism together with an idler sprocket, I apply the lraming mechanism in such a fashion that moving of the film sprocket and with it the film up and down with respect to the aperture may be accomplished without in any way shang- M in! the position of the shutter.

points just mentioned practically the same for For this result, I employe. mechanism for moving the intermittent drive mechanism up and down with respect to the aperture and with it amechanism simultaneously moving the flexible drive member betweenits connection with the 5. intermittent gear drive and its connection with the idler sprocket and the shutter sprocket in such fashion as to maintain the distance along the flexible drive member between the three 10 all framing positions.

Other objects and advantages of the device will appear as the description proceeds in connection with the accompanying drawings. It, is to be understood, however, that the drawings and description are illustrative only and are not to be taken as limiting the invention except in so far as it is limited by the claims.

In the drawings:

- Fig. 1 is an elevation partly in section of a portion of the projector showing the path 01' the film as it is driven past the aperture; Fig. 2 is an elevation showing the opposite side 01' the mechanism from that illustrated in Fig. 1;

Fig. 3 is a section substantially on the line 1- 3 of Fig. 2;

Fig. 4 is an enlarged detail showing the mounting'of the intermittent mechanism; and

Figs. 5 and 6 show modifications o! the mechanism which may be employed to accomplish substantially the same result.

Referring now in detail to the drawings, the path of the film i0 past the light aperture II is shown most clearly in Fig. 1. The shutter is indicated generally at l2, and the film driving sprocket is shown at l3.

7 Now in the insertion of the film, it is necessary to have the individual pictures registered accurately with the aperture H, and, in order to do this, it is necessary to provide for some means of adjustingv the aperture and film with respect to each other either by moving the film sprocket with respect to the aperture or by moving the aperture with respect to'the sprocket.

-In the present mechanism, I employ means for adjusting the film sprocket and its intermittent drive mechanism with respect to the aperture which is stationary thus making it unnecessary' to move the shutter or the light source and thus disturb the alignment of the aperture with these two devices.

Now referring more particularly to Figs. 1 and 2, it will be.noted that the shutter and the intermittent drive mechanism for the film sprocket are driven by the common flexible drive member driven by the pulley I6, belt l1, and pulley I! from the motor IS. The flexible .drive member ll must be of a type which permits of no slippage between the shutter sprocket wheel ii and the sprocket wheel 2| on the intermittent drive mechanism because this sprocket wheel 2| must move the film in synchronism with the movements of the shutter in order to have the film stationary during the periods when the shutter permits the light to pass therethrough and must move the film during the periods when the shutter blocks the light passage. The details of the intermittent drive. mechanism are of no importance to the present invention and may be of any suitable type- Between the sprocket wheel l5 and the sprocket wheel 2|, I provide an idler 22 over which the drive member it passes, and this idler may be merely a smooth pulley. A similar idler 23 is provided just opposite idler 22, and then an idler sprocket wheel 24 is mounted upon the supporting frame 25 directly opposite the sprocket wheel drives the shaft to which is attached sprocket 25 which feeds the film to the aperture The intermittent drive mechanism is mounted upon a plate 21 which plate is guided by means of the slots 28, 29 and 30, and pins 3|, 32 and 33. The film sprocket I3 is, of course, carried by the intermittent mechanism and moves up and down with the plate 21 as the same is adjusted. This plate has the lug 34 and the screw-threaded stem 35 to receive the adjusting screw 36 mounted on the main frame 25 by means of lug 31. By turning the knurled handle 38, the screw 36 may be caused to move the plate 21 up and down and thus adjust the sprocket l3 and with it the film up and down in the aperture l I for framing a picture.

This is a simple means of adjusting the film sprocket to frame the picture and the vibrations do not tend to change the adjustment so that once the film is framed properly it will remain so until there is some change in the distance between pictures or until the end of the film is reached.

Moving of the film sprocket l3 and the intermittent mechanism up and down does, however, exert an influence on the relative positions of the drive sprocket wheels l5 and 2| driving the shutter and the intermittent mechanism respectively. This change in the position of the sprocket wheels would throw them out of synchronism and thus spoil the synchronism between the shutter and the intermittent drive sprocket. I

In order to overcomethis, I provide means acting on the flexible drive member M to maintain the length of this drive member between its driving connectionwith the sprocket wheel l5 and its driving connection with the sprocket wheel 2| substantially the same for all positions of adjustment of the intermittent drive mechanism.

The means which I employ consist of the idler 1 pulleys 22 and 23 which are rotatably mounted These arms thus are movable claim as new position the pulleys 22 and 2a to maintain the desired constant length of flexible drive between sprocket wheels l5 and 2| are a pair of slots shown at and 46 in Fig. 2, these slots being formed in the bar 41 which is mounted upon the supporting plate 25. The slots 45 and 46 are so shaped that in movement of the plate 21 up and down they will move the pulleys 22 and 23 in and out a sutficient amount to compensate for the change in distances that would otherwise take place along the drive member ll between the sprocket wheels l5 and 2|.

Thus I have provided a simple effective mechanism for framing the film in the aperture without disturbing the synchronism of the drive between the shutter and the intermittent film sprocket. Since the position of the shutter is unchanged, obviously no change is made in the light path, and the framing is accomplished without the necessity of providing complicated gear mechanisms or shifting mechanisms for shifting the entire light transmitting system. The flexible drive member I4 may be a well known silent chain drive or any other suitable member such as a perforated strip or belt drive since the only essential feature it must possess is that of providing a non-slipping drive connection between the shutter shaft and the intermittent mechanism drive shaft.

. Referring now to Figs. 5 and 6, I show in Fig. 5 a mechanism somewhat similar to that shown in Figs. 1 to 4 except that in the present instance the adjustment of the pulleys 22' and 23 is not quite so accurate as in the case of the main form. It will be noted here, however, that as the plate 21 is moved upwardly from the position shown in Fig. 5, the tops of the pulleys 22' and 23' will move above the level of a line connecting the lower edges of sprocket wheels l5 and 21. This takes up a substantial amount of slack that is produced by raising the sprocket wheel 2|, and thus substantially the same result is accomplished as in the mechanism shown in Figs. 1 to 4.

In Fig. 6, the plate 21" is vertically adjustable as in the other forms on pins such as 50 and 5|. The drive sprocket wheel l5" corresponds'to the drive sprocket wheel IS in Figs. 1 to 4, and the intermittent drive mechanism is connected to the sprocket wheel 2|" and mounted upon the plate 211;. and 53 which are at a substantial distance from the sprocket wheel 2|". It is evident, of course, that, if 2|" is moved up or down from the exact position shown, there will be very little change in the length of the flexible drive member ll" between the sprocket wheel. l5" and the gear 2|". Thismechanism is not exactly accurate, but the change in the relative position of the shutter sprocket wheel and the intermittent mechanism sprocket wheel is so slight that it does not affect the synchronism between the film movement and the shutter movement sufliciently to be objectionable.

From the above description, it is believed that the construction and operation of this device will be clear to those skilled in this art and the advantages thereof readily apparent.

In certain of the claims I have used the term positive flexible drive to distinguish the nonslipping flexible drive means such as the sprocket chain shown from a slippingdrive member such as the ordinary belt.

Having thus described my invention, what I and desire to secure by Lette l Patent is:

In this form, I provide a pair of idlers 52 1. A framing device for motion picture machines having an intermittent film driving mechanism and a shutter driven in synchronism with the intermittent mechanism by means of a fiexlble drive connection of the chain type, means providing a loop in the flexible drive connection,

means for bodily shifting the intermittent film driving mechanism and the film driven thereby with respect to the aperture for framing, and means simultaneously lengthening or shortening the loop to avoid disturbing the synchronous relations of the intermittent movements with the shutter.

said film feed device and its sprocket wheel being adjustable as a unit with respect to said aperture to frame film pictures in said aperture,

and means engaging said chain between said -wheels for maintaining the wheels in the same relative angular position for all framing positions of said adjustable film feed device.

3. A motion picture machine having a light aperture, means for guiding a strip of film past said aperture, an intermittent film feed device for advancing said film past said aperture, a sprocket wheel for driving said device, a drive mechanism, a sprocket wheel driven thereby, a sprocket chain connecting said sprocket wheels, said film feed device and its sprocket wheel being adjustable as a unit with respect to said aperture to frame film pictures in said aperture, and means cooperating with said chain to maintain substantially the same length of chain between said wheels in all framing positions of said adjustable film feed device. I

4. A framing device for motion picture machines or the like including a film, means for intermittently feeding said film, a shutter, means for driving said shutter, the film feeding means being shiftable relative to the shutter, an endless flexible drive element interconnecting the shutter driving means with the film feeding means for synchronously driving both of said means,-

means for causing a relative bodily sh fting between said two first aforesaid means, and means engaging with said drive element to compensate gaging said sprocket wheel, aesecondfsprocket wheel spaced from said first named sprocket wheelg nd connected thereto by saidflexible 'drive element, said intermittent mechanism being shiftable to. frame the film at the aperture, and means engaging the flexible drive element between said wheels and operable by the shifting of said mechanism to maintain the wheels in the same relative angular position for all framing positions of said intermittent mechanism.

6'. A motion picture machine having in combination, an aperture, means for feeding film past said aperture including an intermittent drive mechanism, and a shutter, means to operate the shutter in synchronism with the interai,sse

mittent mechanism whereby the shutter is open when the film is stationary, drive shafts for said shutter operating means and said mechanism, an endless flexible drive element connecting said shafts, said intermittent mechanism being adjustable independently of the shutter to frame the picture on thefllm in said aperture'and means engaging said endless flexible drive element between said shafts for maintainingthe shafts in the same relative angular position for all framing positions of said intermittent mechanism. a

7. A driving mechanism for devices having a plurality of members driven in synchronlsm, one thereof being adjustable in functioning position relatively to the other, comprising a common flexible drive connection of the chain type; means providing a loop in said flexible drive connection; means for shifting the position of one member; and means for simultaneously changing the length of portions of the said loop to maintain the synchronous movement relations of the respective members.

8. A driving mechanism comprising a plurality of driven members cooperating therewith; a frame for the support thereof; means for shifting the position of one of said driven members with respect to said frame and with respect to the other of said driven members; sprocket wheels respectively for said driven members; a

sprocket chain cooperating with said sprocket 7 wheels; and means engaging'said chain between said sprocket wheels for maintaining the said chain in engagement therewith and of proper length therebetween to maintain the said wheels in the same said relative angular operating position for all positions of shifting of the said shiftable driven member.

9. A driving mechanism comprising a drive- -member engaging said chain between said sprockets and movable with the shifting movements of said shiftable member to maintain such a length of-chain between said sprockets as to v insure synchronous rotation thereof.

10. A driving mechanism comprising a frame member, a plurality of shafts journaled therein; sprockets respectively mounted upon said shafts; means for shifting one of said shafts in a direction at right angles to its axis; a chain engaging said sprockets; means engaging said chain between said sprockets and forming a loop therein; and means movable with the shifting of said shiftable shaft for adjusting the loop in said chain by an amount suflicient to maintain synchronous rotation between said sprockets.

11. A driving mechanism comprising a frame member, a plurality of shafts journaled therein; sprockets respectively mounted upon said shafts; means for shifting one of said shafts in a direction at right'angles to its axis; a chainengaging said sprockets; means engaging said chain between said sprockets and forming a loop therein; means movable with the shifting of said shiftable shaft for adjusting the loop in said chain by an amount sumcierit to maintain synchronous rotation between said sprockets; and an auxiliary chain engaging means similarly movable with said operable means and said shaft on the axis of said shaft; a chain engaging said sprockets; means engaging said chain between said sprockets and forming a loop therein; and means movable with the shifting of said rotatable shaft for adjusting the loop in said chain by an amount sufficient to maintain synchronous rotation between said sprockets.

13. A driving mechanism comprising a frame member, a plurality of shafts journaled therein; driven means cooperating with said shafts, part of said driven means comprising a timed mechanism driven by said shaft and rotatable as a unit around the axis of said shaft; the other of said shafts having a second driven mechanism synchronous with the first driven mechanism; means for rotating saidvflrst driven mechanism; sprockets cooperating with said shafts; a'drive chain engaging said sprockets; means engaging said chain between said sprockets and forming a loop therein; and means cooperating with said second rotatable driven mechanism for adjusting the chain engaging means to maintain a loop therein of proper size and shape to cause said shafts to operate in synchronism.

14. A driving mechanism comprising a frame member; a plurality of shafts journaled therein; driven means cooperating with said shafts; part uses of said driven means comprising a timed mechanism driven by said shaft and rotatable as a unit around the axis of said shaft, the other of said shafts having a driven mechanism synchronous with the first driven mechanism; means forrotating said first driven mechanism; sprockets cooperating with said shafts; a drive chain engaging said sprockets; means engaging said chain between said sprockets and forming a loop therein; means cooperating, with said rotatable driven mechanism for adjusting the chain engaging means to maintain a loop therein of proper size and shape to cause said shafts to operate in synchronism; and a secondary chain engaging mechanism actuated along with said rotatable mechanism for taking up slack in said chain.

15.,A driving mechanism for a plurality of synchronously rotating members, one thereof having a fixed axis, the other thereof comprising a rotatable structure having a primary shaft in the axis of rotation, a secondary shaft geared thereto having a radius of gyration with respect to said. primary shaft; means for maintaining synchronous rotation between said first mentioned driving shaft and said secondary shaft during'rotative translational movements of said secondary shaft comprising sprockets upon said primary shafts, a driving chain engaging said sprockets, means engaging said chain between said sprockets and mechanism for adjusting the position of said chain engaging means in' accordance with the rotative translational movement of said secondary shaft.

HERMAN A. as VRY. 

